


Concert You'll Never Forget

by Adagal



Category: Gorillaz, PPG
Genre: Concert, Crossover, Gen, Phase Five (Gorillaz), Phase One (Gorillaz), gorillaz/ppg, ish, meeting a band
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-04-12 16:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19135933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adagal/pseuds/Adagal
Summary: Ace wants to go to his first concert in Townsville, the Townsville Music Fest. He's only going because his favorite band is playing however, but that doesn't stop him from trying to get there and have a good time. It's sure to be an experience he'll never forget.Set about a month after the PPG Movie.





	Concert You'll Never Forget

_Gorillaz set to headline Townsville Music Fest!_

Ace kept staring at the newspaper snippet he found of the Gorillaz live show ad, paired with a bit of the news story. Gorillaz? Playing here? That had to be a joke. But no, there was the proof right in front of him. He wasn't dreaming. And he was determined to go there.

It was 3 am, which meant the others were surely asleep. Quietly, he stepped over his friends resting on the ground. The door slowly creaked open as Ace sneaked out of the base, and left the dump. 

"What am I doing?" Ace thought to himself. "Why should I get money for a stupid concert when I could be using it for something that could help support the gang?" 

"And lose an opportunity to see your favorite band as they play for one night only in Townsville? No way!" the other half of Ace argued. "Besides, there's always more chances to get money and other stuff. They'll understand, just wait and see!" 

He couldn't argue with that. So with one last shake of the head, Ace ran out into the night. 

Concert tickets cost a lot of money, that much Ace knew, so if he wanted to go there, he'd need to make quick cash, and fast. And the concert was a week away, so he'd have to act fast.

Walking around the dead city streets, Ace managed to find his way to the local bar. Perfect. As the drunk patrons walked out, Ace took the opportunity to pickpocket whatever he could get from the people. Loose change, the occasional dollar bill, Ace even managed to snag a 5 at one point. And in the end, he ended up with a little over $20. Excited, he snuck away with the cash. 

Back at the base, Ace rummaged through a closet until he found a small jar. In handwriting one could only use at 3:30 in the morning, he quickly wrote, "Concert ticket fund! Gotta hurry!" and dropped the current funds in the jar. He was on his way now.

Over the next few days, it seemed to be the same routine. Hang out with the gang by day, pickpocket and hunt for cash by night. The jar slowly, but surely, was getting fuller, and hidden should the gang ever find out what selfish act he was committing. Then finally, two days before the concert, the jar had reached the top. It was complete. 

That night at 5 pm, Ace grabbed the jar from the closet. With the gang out for the night, he could run over and buy his ticket. Or so he thought. 

"Where ya off to with that jar, bossss?" a familiar voice hissed. Ace turned around and saw Snake standing behind him. 

"Snake? I thought you and the others were out playing cards!" Ace said. 

Snake shrugged. "Got bored, so I came back. Now again, where are you going with that jar?" 

"Ohh, you know..." 

Snake glared, detecting hints of nervousness in Ace's voice. 

"How much money'sss in that jar anyway?" Snake asked. 

"Enough for a concert ticket, that's for sure!" Ace blurted out. Snake's eyes widened. 

"Concert ti-? Ohhh. I see what thisss isss about. Instead of using that money on something useful that could help us, you decide to blow it all to see that freaking monkey band!"

Ace gulped. "Snake, ya don't get it, they're only here for one night for the music fest, I have to see them. Who's to bet they'll ever be here again?"

"They are a band, bosss. They'll be back in a few years or so." 

"You know we don't got that kinda time!" 

"We? Or you? You're the only one who caressss anyway!" 

Ace took one fist away from holding the jar and sent towards Snake, hitting him square in the cheek. Snake stumbled back a bit and rubbed the hurting area. 

If Ace were any other person, he'd be taken aback by his outburst, and probably apologize to Snake for his action. But Ace wasn't any other person, and he and Snake both knew this. This happened every other day at this point. Nevertheless, Ace still seemed nervous about what Snake may tell the others, he had to act fast and talk even faster. 

"Snake, look, I promise, after this, I'll get more. I'll get enough to get something good! For all of us! Just let me have this, please?" 

Snake gave Ace a deep, throaty growl. His cheek started bruising over now. For a second, Ace thought Snake would punch him back, and honestly, he was ready for the blow. But it never came.

So Ace just returned the growl and walked out the door. 

"You really are a selfish jerk, ya know?" he could hear Snake say as he walked out. But Ace just shook it off. Nothing would stop him from having the time of his life. He headed over to the park, where the music fest was being set up still. Grinning, he walked up to the ticket booth nearby. 

"Hello there," Ace greeted the man there. "I'd like to purchase a ticket for the fest." 

Ace held up the jar of money. The man seemed annoyed from how many coins and single dollar bills were there, but when Ace agreed to help the man count to make sure it was all there, he seemed a little off edge. 

After what seemed like forever, the man was done counting. He looked up at Ace and chuckled. 

"Kid, this isn't enough for a ticket." 

Ace could swear he felt his jaw hit the ground. Not enough? He spent so much time getting every penny for that jar! It had to be worth at least some sort of ticket! 

"It's not?" Ace stammered. "Not even the cheapest one on there?" 

The man shook his head. Ace was actually getting close to tears. His one chance to see Gorillaz, gone.

"Hey, don't worry kid," the man reassured. "You still got two days to get the rest of the cash, provided we don't sell out by then. I'll see ya then kid. Oh, hold on a sec..." 

The man pulled out a small slip of paper and taped it to the top of Ace's jar. "That's how much you need for the cheapest ticket. Best of luck to ya." 

Ace gave the man a sad-happy salute, then ran back to the dump.

When he entered the base, he was shocked to see the others all there. He checked the time on their tiny clock. 7:35 pm. Yep, they would be back by now. And Ace was surely gonna get it. 

"So? Where's the ticket?" Lil Arturo asked. 

Ace was speechless. He held out the jar for the others to see, showing no ticket in sight. Giggling, Lil Arturo jumped up and grabbed the jar out of Ace's shaking hands.

"Hey!" Ace shouted. But his cry fell on deaf ears. Arturo then shook out the jar's remains for the gang to see. Big Billy almost fell to the ground to try and snatch some of the coins, like kids grabbing candy from a broken piñata. 

"Billy. Put. The coins. Down," Ace snapped. 

"What's wrong boss?" Arturo laughed. "Billy was just tryna have some fun, and here you come ruining all ours." 

Ace was so mad, his face seemed completely red. He reached for the jar, but Arturo tossed it to Snake. Then Snake passed it to Grubber, who passed it to Billy, who smashed it on the ground like a football. 

"Touchdown!" Billy shouted, wearing the biggest grin in the universe. 

Ace fell to the floor, sinking to his knees. The gang giggled for a minute, seemingly enjoying this. But they ceased their laughter after a minute and saw what they had actually done to their friend. It definitely wasn't a pretty sight, seeing your best friend completely break down the way Ace did. He was shaking, crying, the whole thing. 

After a few minutes, Grubber stepped up to the pitching mound, helping Ace get up and off to get some sleep. Ace struggled a little in Grubber's arms, but he was too tired and upset now to care. 

The next day, Ace remained asleep through the whole day. The gang was a little nervous about Ace's current state, and they knew it would most likely help if they just stayed away for the day. So they did, and went around doing other things, like heading off to the playground, pickpocketing for quick cash, or terrorizing some kids when the Powerpuff Girls weren't around. 

While wandering through a convince store, Lil Arturo found something interesting in the at-home aisle. It was a metal pail, medium sized according to the tag on it. 

"Hey guys," Arturo called to the others. They all came and looked at the object Arturo now held in his hands. 

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" The gang nodded in unison. 

When Ace awoke, he noticed the gang were at his bedside, or floor-side really. 

"What're you guys doing? Get lost," he mumbled. 

"Shut up and look at thisss," Snake said, holding up the bucket. Ace had to do a double take, seeing what was there. The bucket was filled to the top with cash. Not just pennies and dimes, but dollar bills too! Singles, 5's, Ace could swear he saw at least two 20's there as well. 

"The bucket'sss full. We counted every penny lassst night. Exactly enough to get you a ticket, bosss," Snake explained. 

Ace teared up a little. He jumped up and hugged the gang. 

"Thank you thank you thank you!" he cheered. "I promise I'll repay y'all! I promise!" 

Snatching the bucket from Snake's hands, Ace laughed and ran to the music fest to purchase his ticket. 

At the park, Ace found the same man from last time working the ticket booth. He ran up and slammed the bucket on the desk, causing a few dimes to fall out. 

"The cheapest ticket ya got!" Ace shouted. 

"ACE!" a familiar voice yelled. He turned around and saw Buttercup there. 

_I forgot the Powerpuffs are part of security for this thing._ Ace thought. 

"You better not be trying to steal a ticket, or else!" Buttercup sneered. 

Ace put his hands up in a defensive motion. "Woah, woah, no way Buttercup. I got money, and I'm paying like a decent person, ok?" 

Buttercup flew past him to inspect the cash in the bucket. After a minute, she sighed. 

"It's a Saturday, so I'm letting you off. But next time..." 

"You got it chief!" Ace saluted. Buttercup facepalmed and flew off. 

Ace turned back around to the man at the ticket booth. "So about that ticket..." 

The man glumly shook his head and held up a sign. "Sorry kid, we sold out an hour ago. You tried hard though, I'll give ya that." 

Ace's knees buckled. This couldn't be happening. He had time. He had time! 

"You're kidding, right?" Ace stumbled. The man shook his head once more. 

"Sorry, kid. I'd give you one if I could." 

Ace slowly took the bucket off the desk and wandered past the ticket booth, stopping to look at the stage. 

_Get a good look at it._ his brain told him. _Ya won't be there anyway._

To make it seem like he was there, not to hurt his gang, Ace wandered around a little bit more, walking to who knows where. After a while, he ended up following two guys who seemed to be going to the music fest also. Heading right back the way he came. 

"Oh, hold on," one guy said, walking up to a bench. He sat down and started retying his shoe, to which Ace watched while standing from afar. 

He felt weird, it was like he was stalking these two. Of course, he didn't mean to, he just had nothing else to do. 

"Uh, a little help?" the guy asked. The other guy sighed, smacked his friend lightly, and tied both shoes. After a minute, they walked off, Ace following once more. As the two guys were walking, Ace noticed something fell out of one of the guys' back pockets. A small object, seemed very likely to fall out anyway. Nevertheless, Ace knew he probably wouldn't want it, so he ran down to grab it, trying not to alert the guys' attention to him. 

Upon picking the object up, Ace saw it was a guitar pick. A black one, with a red star on it. He ran up to the one guy and tapped his shoulder. When the guy turned around, Ace noticed the man looked very familiar. 

"Yeah? What cha want?" the man asked in a gruff voice. 

"Uh, you dropped this," Ace said, holding up the pick. 

The man snatched it from Ace's hand. "Thanks."

The other man seemed fixated on Ace's pail of cash. "What's the pail for?" he asked. 

"Oh, I was planning on going to a concert, but all the tickets sold out," Ace explained. Both men nodded. 

"Ya know, you seem to have spunk, kid," the gruff sounding man said. "We have connections to some people, how would ya like to be VIP at the concert?" 

Ace gasped. He didn't want to full out fanboy however, so he tried to play it cool. 

"Sure, thanks a million. I should repay in some way, right?" 

"Nah, no repayment here!" the second man said. "Let's hurry though! Concert starts soon, and the others don't like waiting for us!" 

Ace nodded, and headed through the concert with the two men. 

"Ace?" another voice shouted. The three guys turned to see Blossom flying towards them. 

"Wait, you?" the gruff sounding man said, pointing at Blossom. "My friend loves ya! Can I get your autograph to give to her?" 

Blossom seemed taken aback. "Wait, Ace isn't holding you guys hostage?" 

The other man shook his head. "Nah, we're helping him. He wanted to see this concert." 

Blossom was still confused, but gave the gruff sounding man her autograph, not takin her eyes off Ace. Ace shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Afterwards, she made an "I have my eyes on you" gesture to Ace, then flew off. Ace breathed a sigh of relief. 

"She have somefing against ya?" the other man asked Ace. 

Ace shrugged. "You could say that." 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

"This is as far as we can take ya," the gruff sounding man said to Ace as they reached near the front of the stage, one of the bands just finishing up. "We'll see ya in a sec!" 

As the two men ran off behind the stage, it suddenly clicked in Ace why the two men seemed so familiar.

"And now, the headliners of this wonderful festival!" the Mayor announced. "May I introduce to you, Gorillaz!" 

M1A1 started up as the lights shone on the band. Ace let out a huge whoop. It was a combination of the facts he was seeing his favorite band play live, and that he just met Murdoc and 2D on the streets, and they let him in the concert. It was the greatest honor one could hold. 

The whole time Gorillaz played, Ace seemed to cheer the loudest for each song. By the time it ended, Ace was a big, shaking ball of excitement. 

"Hey Ace!" Murdoc shouted. Ace turned around. Murdoc gestured for Ace to come over. Ace walked over, and Murdoc patted the excited man on the shoulder. "That a fun time?" 

Ace nodded, bearing the biggest grin ever. "Was awesome." 

2D smiled. "Noodle loved Blossom's autograph too. Murdoc thinks it made her play better, especially during 5/4." 

Ace nodded along with 2D, then he realized something. "Wait! What time is it?" 

Murdoc checked his watch. "Bout midnight. Why?" 

_Crap._ Ace thought. "I gotta go! Gang's waiting for me!" 

Murdoc nodded. "Who knows? Maybe we'll see ya again? Good luck with you and your gang." 

Ace nodded and ran off. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

The next day, Ace only got a few hours of sleep. He woke up to the feel of his face being slapped. 

"Told ya I could do it," Snake laughed. Ace responded with a slap of his own, this time hitting Snake in the chin. 

"Ssso," Snake winced. "You enjoy the concert? They play your favorites?" 

Ace shrugged. "It certainly was something. One I won't forget, that's for sure."

Snake nodded. "Welp, gang and I are off. You coming?" 

Ace shook his head, so Snake walked off with his hands behind his head. 

"Kay guysss, he ain't coming!" 

Ace lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, reliving every bit of that concert. From trying to get the ticket, to meeting the band afterwards. He felt so accomplished.

\---------------------------------------------------- 

"Hey Ace!" 

Ace snapped back into reality to find himself, 2D, Russel, and Noodle standing backstage. 

"You coming out? Or do we have to say we lost another bassist?" Noodle chuckled. 

"The audience is getting mad," Russel added. "And D's about to run out there himself." 

Ace put his hands up, then slung his bass around his shoulder. "Let's do it!" 

Noodle and Russel walked onstage first, with 2D and Ace following. 

"Hey Ace. You zoned out almost the whole sound check. Noodle had to check your bass for ya. What were you finkin' about?" 2D asked. 

"Oh, just my first concert. Meeting you guys n all," Ace said. 

2D just nodded and ran to the mic. Ace then took his spot, and the band launched into Humility. 

Ace looked up, imaging what the gang must be thinking. Maybe anger, maybe they were proud, maybe something else. All he knew was, he made it. And he'd never forget it.


End file.
